Polls: Economic

President Buhari’s March 2017 Presidential Approval Rating stands at 55%

Abuja Nigeria, April 18th, 2017 – Latest Presidential Job Approval rating conducted by NOIPolls revealed a 5-point increase to stand at 55 percent in March, 2017. The rise in the President's job performance rating was seen across the six geo-political zones and the North-East zone with 31-points had the highest proportion of Nigerians in this category. This increase in the job approval rating could be attributed to the President's return from medical leave and the continued deliberations around the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, with the main objective of restoring growth, investing in and building a globally competitive economy. Additionally, the Central Bank’s policy intervention on foreign exchange which has further improved the value of the Naira in the global market could also have contributed to this increase.

Further findings revealed that the rationale for approval of the President's job performance was centered around the perceived ‘slight reduction in the prices of goods and services’ (25 percent), ‘improved level of security’ (20 percent) and ‘slight improvement in the economy’ (15 percent) amongst other positive reasons. Conversely, 35 percent of the respondents who disapproved of his job performance reported ‘general hardship and high poverty rate’ (40 percent), ‘high cost of goods and services’ (25 percent) and ‘worsening state of the economy’ (15 percent) as reasons for their disapproval.

These are some of the key findings from the Governance poll conducted by NOIPolls in the week commencing 27th March 2017. These results represent the twenty-second approval rating in a monthly series of governance polls conducted by NOIPolls to gauge the perceptions of Nigerians regarding the job performance of the President.

Survey findings

Following the return of the President on 10th, March 2017, there were heightened expectations of Nigerians to see him continue to discharge his duties especially in an economy which is currently in recession amidst high inflation.[1] In order to assess the general perception of Nigerians regarding the performance of President Buhari over the past one month, NOIPolls conducted the presidential approval rating for the month of March, 2017 and findings from the poll revealed that 55 percent of adult Nigerians interviewed approved of the President’s job performance. This current rating represents a 5-point increase from February 2017 rating (50 percent) of Vice President Osibanjo (who was the Acting President during that period); indicating an improved perception from previous months. On the other hand, 35 percent disapproved of his performance, while 10 percent remained neutral, neither approving nor disapproving of his performance. It is also worth noting that the increase in the job performance of the president was observed across all the six geo-political zones.

Subsequently, respondents who approved of the President’s job approval rating gave various reasons ranging from ‘slight reduction in prices of goods and services’ (25 percent) ‘improved level of security’ (20 percent) and ‘slight improvement in the economy’ (15 percent). Other reasons for the approval included ‘Iliked the President’s style of leadership’ (13 percent) ‘distribution of Agro-allied products to farmers’ (10 percent) and ‘fight against corruption’ (10 percent) and lastly, ‘strengthened value of the Naira’ (7 percent).

Respondents who disapproved of the President’s job performance claimed that there is ‘general hardship and high poverty rate’ (40 percent), ‘high cost of goods and services’ (25 percent), ‘worsening state of the economy’ (15 percent), ‘high unemployment rate’ (12 percent) and ‘poor state of power supply’ (8 percent).

In conclusion, the poll has revealed that the presidential job performance evaluation for the month of March 2017 has increased to 55 percent. While this marginal increase is laudable, massive inroads still have to be made in terms of curbing inflation and poverty rates which still remain the highest reason for disapproval of the President’s job performance. Additionally, Government must focus on the adequate implementation of recommendations outlined by the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan to ensure sustainable economic growth and national development.

Survey Methods

The public opinion poll was conducted in the week commencing March 27th, 2017. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country, were interviewed. With a sample of this size, we can say with 95% confidence that the results obtained are statistically precise - within a range of plus or minus 3%. NOIPolls Limited is the No1 for country specific polling services in West Africa. We conduct periodic opinion polls and studies on various socio-economic and political issues in Nigeria. More information is available at www.noi-polls.com , you can also download NOIPolls Mobile App from the Google and Apple Playstore.

Disclaimer

This press release has been produced by NOIPolls Limited to provide information on all issues which form the subject matter of the document. Kindly note that while we are willing to share results from our polls with the general public, we only request that NOIPolls be acknowledged as author whenever and wherever our poll results are used, cited or published.

NOIPolls hereby certifies that all the views expressed in this document accurately reflect its views of respondents surveyed for the poll, and background information is based on information from various sources that it believes are reliable; however, no representation is made that it is accurate or complete. Whilst reasonable care has been taken in preparing this document, no responsibility or liability is accepted for errors or fact or for any views expressed herein by NOIPolls for actions taken as a result of information provided in this report. Any ratings, forecasts, estimates, opinions or views herein constitute a judgment as at the date of this document. If the date of this document is not current, the views and content may not reflect NOIPolls’ current findings and/or thinking.